Requirements


• Burst SMS Account

• Dedicated Virtual Number


https://www.activecampaign.com/apps/burstsms-integration


Contacts


A mobile phone number is required to send a text message to a handset. There is a default field called Phone in ActiveCampaign however this could commonly be replaced with Landlines or other contact info. Our integration allows you to define the mobile field from any custom field which you may have already done.


Another great thing about the Burst SMS integration is that it doesn't require clean data to send to international destinations. You may have localised format numbers for numerous countries, so we also have the ability to auto-format numbers in your list. You will just need to provide the country name and combined with the number in any format we can reformat and make sure it gets to the right destination.



Adding SMS actions to your ActiveCampaign automation


To setup an automation you will need a trigger, in this example we will use a tag.



Next you will be asked to create your first action. From the CX Apps menu there are three options.

  • Send SMS with Burst - This sends a text message to your contact
  • Add Contact to Burst's list - This adds the contact to a list on Burst. This will let you build a broadcast SMS list that you can send to later.
  • Remove Contact from Burst's list - This will remove a contact from a list on Burst. Can be used for suppressing customers from automated messaging campaigns run by the Burst system.



You will now need to authorise your Burst SMS account using the API Key & Secret from the settings section of your account. If you do not have an account you can setup a free trial.



Once connected you can now setup your first text message. First you will need to select your dedicated virtual number. These will be pulled through from your Burst SMS account. If nothing is available here you will need to purchase a number from the NUMBERS section of your account or request a free trial via Burst Helpdesk. This will just take a few minutes.



Then you can set your message, you can use the personalisation functions to add name or other data to your message.



There is also a special tag you can use called [tracked-link] inserting this will pull the URL defined in the below field into your message for tracking. This can also be a variable so that a unique link can be provided for every contact receiving a message.




Defining the Recipient


The "To" field is where we define the recipient number. We allow you to use any field here to define. In most integrations you will be forced to use the Phone field and if that is the case you may have to remap your data. We also have a feature that automatically formats the number using a country name. You can create a country field and map this.

These features are optional. You can simply map the Phone field if you have already pre-cleaned your data.



The reason we have a country setting here is because to send SMS the recipient number needs to be in international format so that we can deliver to the correct destination. Most mobile data is generally no collected in this formatted however and is usually defined in local number format.

Our system will take a locally formatted number, combined with the country code and automatically change it to the correct format for delivery.


The country is either defined as the full name of the country or the 2 letter country code. The list of names and codes can be found here: https://help.burstsms.com/support/solutions/articles/44001077065-global-sms-delivery-list


You if all of your numbers are for the same country you can just hard code it rather than using a variable



Activating your Campaign


Once done, click Finish and your message is ready. You can separate messages with ActiveCampaign conditions and once ready click the Activate button.




You will now see messages flowing through your Burst SMS account activity and you will note that messages for different countries are correctly formatted and delivered.



As a side note, messages delivered to different countries will have the sender ID replaced with a sender ID number appropriate to that country.